Northwest Montana Lakes

Hungry Horse
Reservoir

Hungry Horse Reservoir, which stretches for more than 35 miles through
beautiful and remote country, is fairly popular among pleasure boaters
due to its scenic and isolated setting along with its easy access. The
reservoir was created by the building of the Hungry Horse Dam, covering
once pristine wilderness waters of the South
Fork Flathead River.

For fishing, Hungry Horse Reservoir comes up lacking. The reservoir
is managed for power production purposes, and during low water, simply
reaching the lake can be a challenge. The lake is not stocked unlike
most other reservoirs in Montana. For those who want to attempt to fish
Hungry Horse Reservoir, the best place will be around some of the inlets
and bays that exist all along the reservoirs shoreline.

Primary fish species in the reservoir include cutthroat trout and whitefish,
along with some scattered bull trout that make their way down from the
South Fork of the Flathead.

Access to the head of Hungry Horse Reservoir is excellent. Just take
the paved road from the town of Hungry Horse a few miles to the dam.
To travel beyond the dam, though, will require a lot of patience as the
road is dirt, twists frequently and is very bumpy. Also make sure you
have a spare tire for any trip down past the reservoir - the road has
a nasty reputation for eating tires.